I wonder why "Tea House" and "Big Brother Cheng" have Category 3 ratings on my VCDs.
Cheap marketing sensationalism by some Celestial greenhorn I guess. I remember laughing at those covers when I got mine. Although I guess the subject matter may at one time warranted some kind of restriction but those releases especially 'Big Brother' were censored anyway. Much of the bold dialogue was excised for their cable TV market so I don't know what other purpose slapping that icon on those releases would serve. IMO all it did was make it more of a letdown for newer audiences who're pumped up to see it based on reputation alone (admittedly like early Stephen Chow, fluency in HK street slang really helps). Hyped HK cinema fans already jaded by true 90s era Cat. III nasties expected something similar and they didn't get it so based on those terms, it didn't deliver. It's really too bad because these 2 films were really seminal Cantonese titles that really helped boost HK film to its stature now. This recent software ploy, the hype had the negative effect because the newer spin-doctors tried to link it to present terms while failing to recognize the past for its historical context (if they knew). The source for 'Sing Gei Cha Low' is a precursor to today's underground comic and the film versions can be hailed as one of the first topical 'manga' adaptations tapping into the voice of the common man, making it one of the few documents of populist social commentary in HK for its day. 'Dai Gou Sing' fever permeated outside the colony throughout Chinese communities worldwide back then. 'Teahouse' was never marketed as either a Kung Fu title or a 'Young & Dangerous' type genre piece though it influenced the latter, it didn't have to.